Pros:Very good performance; multiple connectivity ports; strong battery lifeCons:Non-traditional keyboardBottom line:The TravelMate 8000 is worth considering thanks to a lengthy feature list and good performance. But typing on it might require some getting use to.

ReviewThe Acer TravelMate 8000 pleasantly surprised us. This 6.6-pound portable is reasonably easy for road-going professionals to take along, and comes with a full complement of features...
click here for

Acer TravelMate 8000

The Acer TravelMate 8000 pleasantly surprised us. This 6.6-pound portable is reasonably easy for road-going professionals to take along, and comes with a full complement of features: 15-inch screen, robust ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics, fast 4,200-rpm hard drive, Bluetooth, and even a DVD+/-RW burner. Add to that very good performance and battery life at a reasonable price ($2,499 direct) and you see why the TravelMate is an Editors' Choice for individuals and small businesses.

The TravelMate comes with the full contingent of ports: four USB 2.0 ports (all placed on the left side), a FireWire port, audio line in, DVI-I (for both digital and analog video outthe only notebook in the group to have this), VGA, and S-Video. Security-conscious organizations will be happy to see the integrated Smart Card Reader, which can limit access to only authorized card holders. Network connectivity is via Gigabit Ethernet, and best of all, Centrino G wireless.

One of the design features we're still not sure about is Acer's keyboard, which has the keys arrayed in a slight curve (think smiley face). The company claims it's more ergonomically friendly, but we found it takes a bit getting used to, and the keys are sitting a little closer than we like. Convenient touches we do like are the four-way scroll wheel between the mouse buttons, and four programmable quick-launch buttons above the keyboard.

The TravelMate comes with the strongest 3D graphics solution in the group with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128MB DDR SDRAM. This makes it a good choice (for a portable) when work ends and games begin. That GPU, along with the Pentium M 745 (1.8 GHz) processor and 4,200-rpm hard drive helped the TravelMate turn in the best Business Winstone score in this group (22.2)besting even the HP Compaq entry with its Pentium M 755 (2.0 GHz) processor and double the amount of RAM. Acer's battery score was also impressive at 5:12 (hours, minutes), as was its wireless throughput.

Corporate fleet buyers will more likely gravitate to the IBM ThinkPad T42 as Acer does not offer common accessories across its line or the OS image stability IT managers crave. But for small businesses and individuals, the Acer TravelMate 8000 could cost more and still not seem overpriced. Priced as it is, it seems a bargain.

PCMag may earn affiliate commissions from the shopping links included on this page. These commissions do not affect how we test, rate or review products. To find out more, read our complete terms of use.

Cisco Cheng is the Lead Analyst of the laptop team at PCMag.com. He’s a one-man wrecking crew who tests and writes about anything considered a laptop (yes, even netbooks). He’s been with PC Mag for over 10 years and gets occasional headaches from all the technical knowledge he has absorbed during that time. He’d still be snowboarding and playing basketball had he not been through multiple knee surgeries (well, two). Now he spends his time with Google Reader, the iPhone 3G, and his now 3-year...
More »